Tough Little Boys
by Moonlight-rosegarden
Summary: Very light AU, Roy/OC. If you don't like Canon/OC pairings, don't read! Full summary is inside.


Title:

Title: Tough Little Boys

Fandom: Full Metal Alchemist

Author: Moonlight-rosegarden

Pairing: Roy/Tylar (OC)

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist.

Summary: When Roy saves the life of a dead childhood friend's younger sister, things get a little complicated when he realizes that she liked him when they were younger, and may still feel the same way. He tells himself, and her, that he doesn't return the feelings, and can't because she's five years younger than him. Of course she's of age, so that shouldn't matter, right? Maybe he's lying to himself and her…?

A/N: This story is slightly AU seeing as it's just after Ed became a State Alchemist, and Hughes never dies. I want to have this be as long as possible, but still go along slightly with the series' storyline. If I'm not doing a good job, don't be afraid to tell me, please? I got this account partially so that I could improve upon my fan writing. I've also added a few modern touches, like medical stuff. The title is mostly focused on Roy. I couldn't think of another one, and I was listening to that song when I was trying to come up with a chapter. Character ages are on my profile.

* * *

Roy sighed. It was late and if it hadn't been for the fact that Hawkeye had practically (well okay, she had) threatened to shoot him if he didn't finish his paperwork today, he could've been home a few hours ago. But at least he would possibly not have too much tomorrow. Of course it was the military though, so he'd probably have just as much, if not more. He sighed again. The report from Fullmetal was due to be in tomorrow and he would probably not be able to look at it for a while, or it'd be the first thing shoved on his desk in the morning. He appreciated neither, preferring to take things at his own pace, which just caused his paperwork to pile up more, leading to evenings such as this.

But he had a feeling that tonight would be different from those other nights, a feeling close to the one he'd had the night he'd stood outside the Rockbell's residence and realized what Fullmetal and his brother were doing. A feeling close to dread, but not quite there yet. Just as he thought this, a loud bang rang out in an alley just ahead and a dark shadow charged out, running down the street and disappearing around the corner before Roy could even move. Since that was obviously going to be a futile chase on his side, he darted to the opening in the alley.

"Fuck," was the only thing he could bring himself to utter as he took in what was there.

There was a small person, gender indeterminable from this distance as they were clear at the back of the alley and it was dark. He could see though, the blood that was spattered all over the back wall to the right of the person. Just then, they uttered a groan, and the voice was clearly female.

"Are you alright?!" He called, running to her side. As he reached her, he realized that the blood spatter was from her right arm, which was missing from the middle of her forearm and down. The person who had run off had probably taken it with them, probably thinking she would bleed to death.

Her head was hung; he had to lean in close to hear her fading voice. "It… hurts…" She muttered.

"I know. What's your name?" Roy was practically yelling, trying to keep her conscious.

"Ty…lar. It's… cold…" She whispered. The next moment, her body went limp and a small sound escaped her as her eyes drifted shut. Roy almost cursed until he realized she was breathing in short gasps, as if she were trying to hold on, even in unconsciousness.

Roy threw his jacket over her and picked her up off the ground, ready to carry her to HQ, since it was closer than the hospital. He charged out of the alley, his right hand at the ready for a snap if the person who had somehow managed to shoot off her arm had returned. But he ran into no such obstacle.

* * *

"Hey, Hawkeye, has Roy already left?" Hughes wandered into the office, his hand already halfway to the pocket on the breast of his uniform, no doubt ready to show anyone who would look pictures of Elysia.

"You just missed him, sir. He left five minutes ago because he finished his paperwork. What did you need?" Riza set down the papers she was going over to make sure Roy hadn't missed any places he had to sign.

"Oh, well he got a letter in today and I was just let off, so I thought I'd bring it to him. Well, bye. I have to get home to Elysia and Gracia." He turned to walk out the door and ran smack-dab into the man he was looking for.

Roy's chest was covered and blood and there was a small girl in his arms. Her short brown hair was matted to her forehead and neck, and she was unconscious, but grimaced in pain through that. Her breathing was uneven, and came in short, bursting gasps. Her right arm appeared to be blown off from the middle of her forearm, and she had Roy's military jacket draped over her shoulders.

"Whoa, man, what happened?!" Hughes burst out, jumping backwards.

"What the hell do you think, Maes?! Her arm was shot off! I brought her here because it's closer than the hospital. We have a medical team right?" He looked like a lost puppy, his past erasing all official ways he may have acted towards his subordinates.

"Well, yeah, but they got off around nine, Roy. It's eleven," Hughes answered, ignoring the outburst from Roy because he knew how his old friend must feel. "Maybe we could drive her over to the ER? It'd be faster than walking."

"Yeah, let's go! If she dies, we'll have a potential murderer on the street and no leads," Roy was ready to go already, but Hughes had to grab keys for one of the military cars. Roy was already waiting in the military-owned garage when Hughes appeared.

Hughes opened one of the back doors and Roy climbed in, holding her under the shoulders as Hughes held her legs and they laid her down on the back seat, her head resting in Roy's lap.

Ten minutes later they were sitting in the ER as the doctors stopped the blood-flow and bandaged her arm in another room.

A doctor appeared, asking which was her guardian. Roy decided to take that role for now, since he had been the one to find her. The doctor led him to a small room just off the hall, shutting the door.

"Sir, we're going to have amputate this girl's arm from the elbow. Infection has spread and we've stopped it for now, but if we don't amputate, it'll just spread and kill her. We need you permission to do that."

Roy sighed. He'd thought this was where they took people when there was no more hope, when their kin was already gone.

"Anything, as long as she lives," Roy said curtly. When the doctor thanked him and left, Roy realized he hadn't sounded like a guardian at all, but it didn't matter. That girl had to live. They couldn't have another 'Barry the Chopper' situation.

When he returned to the waiting room, Hughes gave him an envelope. "What's this?" He asked, confused.

"It's a letter. I know this probably isn't the best time, but you just got it in today, and I thought it might help you take your mind off of this for a second, if not a few minutes." Hughes smiled.

"Oh, okay. Thank you," Roy said quickly. He opened the envelope swiftly, and unfolded the tri-folded papers inside. By the first few lines, it was from a childhood friend's younger sister, who had wanted to come and meet him to ask about her older brother. Only when he got to the ending did he realize something.

"Hughes… I don't think you could've given this to me at a better time. It didn't take this off my mind, but it cleared something up. Why, do you think, was this woman outside HQ so late at night? I'll tell you my theory. This letter is from her. See here at the bottom? The name signed there is the name she gave me just before she went unconscious." He pointed to the loopy signature at the bottom of the third page, which read 'Tylar Redwing'. "She's here to ask about her brother, who I was childhood friends with, and who died in the Ishbal Rebellion. She was born when we were around five, and she never got close to her brother because his family estranged him after he joined the military. She wants to get a better idea of the person her brother was."

Hughes smacked his palm with his fist. "Oh! I get it. She just arrived tonight and figured she'd wait for you at HQ, right? But then she was assaulted and almost killed just as you were leaving, right?"

"Correct. Now what I'm wondering, is how she figured out I was staying late today. Maybe she stopped by my apartment and I wasn't there? So why didn't she get a hotel and wait until tomorrow? This is a girl who is dedicated to finding out about her brother. But why is she so stuck on it? Shouldn't she hate her brother if she grew up with her family estranging him?"

"I don't know, Roy. Maybe she just found out about him. But whatever her reason, she was obviously stuck on it if she needed to see you the first night she got here. This is not just a woman who's going through a phase. She really wants to know about him," Hughes sighed. Roy always over-thought stuff, despite how lazy he was.

"Yeah. You know, seeing her, and realizing how old she actually is, she reminds me of Fullmetal. I wonder if she's as extroverted as him?" Roy snickered. "That'd be quite a sight when she wakes up. Oh, the doctors are amputating her arm at the elbow. I think if she wants, I'm going to have Fullmetal take her to his engineer for auto-mail. We'll have to have her comfortable if we want to get information from her."

Hughes grinned. "I think it might be a little more than that for you, Colonel," He said.

Roy blushed and managed to stutter out, "Wh-what?! No! Why would it be?! I hardly remember her!"

Hughes stretched his arms above his head. "Methinks the man doth protest too much," He sang.

Roy was still blushing. "Whatever. Shouldn't you be getting home to Gracia?"

Hughes started a little, realizing he had fully intended to do that just about half an hour ago. "Oh, yeah! How about you? Don't you have to get back to your apartment?"

"No. I'm going to stay here until she wakes up. I need to figure out why she was so anxious to talk to me," Roy responded looking down.

"Okay, Mr. Lovebird." Hughes waved as he walked away.

Roy, who had stood up to yell after his friend and realized it would have been futile, sat down and put his head in his hands.

"Why did you come after me, Tylar? I told no one where I was going… How on earth did you find me?" He was whispering to himself, a depressed look on his face.

"Colonel Mustang?" A voice mad him jump out of his memory-induced trance. "We're done with her. Since you're the only one here for her we'll let you stay in her room with her. She should be waking up soon."

Roy thanked the nurse; who had probably helped with the amputation, and almost ran to the room he was directed to. Tylar was laying on a hospital-style bed, her left arm over the this sheet holding it tight to her side, the stump of her right arm resting just short of the blanket, which was actually tucked under her on that side. She had a pic-line fed into her left arm feeding drugs into her system, which would obviously be there for a while, since it wasn't just a regular IV. She had heart monitors stuck almost everywhere a pulse could be taken, her left wrist, her neck just under her jawbone and some that went under her shirt on her chest.

Roy walked over to the chair to the left the bed as quietly as possible and sat down, putting his hand softly on top of hers, careful not to set off any alarms or wake her up. "Why, Tylar? Why couldn't you have just stayed away…?" He was on the verge of tears now, so decided to stop before he started bawling.He could ask her when she woke up anyway.

* * *

A/N: That's it for the first chapter, and like I said before, don't hesitate to tell me if I'm doing a horrible job,okay? Please review with your thoughts.


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